Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Author
Topic: Does Your ID Doctor Do Your Labs? (Read 6463 times)

Im guessing most people go to a 3rd party facility to get their blood drawn for their labs?

After having my first ID doctor appointment today he basically told me that 1 to 2 weeks before each visit with him I have to go to a 3rd party facility to get my blood drawn and then they would send him the results. When I go see him he'll discuss those results with me.

Im guessing most people go to a 3rd party facility to get their blood drawn for their labs?

After having my first ID doctor appointment today he basically told me that 1 to 2 weeks before each visit with him I have to go to a 3rd party facility to get my blood drawn and then they would send him the results. When I go see him he'll discuss those results with me.

Is that pretty much how most people do it?

I am with Kaiser, an HMO, so no, I don't go to any 3rd party facility. Everything is in the same building, my doctor, the lab, the pharmacy, etc. This is most convenient. My primary doctor is an HIV doctor.

Private doctors often times will send you to a third party lab. Unless a doctor is affiliated with a clinic or hospital they don't have their own lab facilities.

My doctor is in a hospital/clinic, so the lab is on the 6th floor and my HIV doc is on the 2nd floor.

I think he was asking if the doctor draws the blood. Lots of private doctors, and even large HIV clinics, draw your blood in their office but it gets sent to a laboratory somewhere else. My HIV clinic does this, and it's the largest in the city. The results are turned around by LabCorps within 48 hours.

I had private doctors (meaning not part of any larger clinic) in NYC (2) and both drew my blood on their own.

WindySkies is referring to the practice of having the blood drawn by a third party facility, who then probably in turns sends it to Quest or LabCorps, etc.

my doc is affiliated with a hospital and i get my blood drawn there. the NEW thing is,anthem changed the "rules" this year and it now requires a co-pay to get labs done by the hospital. a third party wouldn't require any co-pay. guess the insurance companies are going for the cheapest provider. ugh!makes my life more difficult.i hate insurance companies with a passion.

I think he was asking if the doctor draws the blood. Lots of private doctors, and even large HIV clinics, draw your blood in their office but it gets sent to a laboratory somewhere else. My HIV clinic does this, and it's the largest in the city. The results are turned around by LabCorps within 48 hours.

Other than that, what difference does any of this make?

Ya, I think I your right.

One difference, and probably the only difference is cost. The fact that the lab I go to is inside a hospital allows them to charge more. My last bill for my lab (cd4,WBC,viral load, lipids) was $1030.00. I wonder if I went to an outside lab if the cost would be less.

There should be a menu with the cost so you could determine cost before you let them stick a needle in your arm.

when i used to just see a private ID doc (no ASO in that area), I had blood drawn at the hospital lab and got the results 2 wks later during a doctors office visit. Now at the ASO clinic, they draw the blood, send it to the lab, and I get the results 2 wks later back at the clinic seeing their ID doc

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

LabCorps is what my doctor sent me too. I went to two of the locations listed on the back of the paperwork and they were no longer at those locations! Then I tried calling a few others and they have an automated operator that take 3-4 minutes to even get to where you can talk to a real person. I finally get through to find out where the closest office is and my cell phone cuts out and the lady hangs up after saying hello twice! So I was just a bit annoyed with the whole thing. Luckily they have a couple of locations that are open on Saturdays, hopefully they are there when I go tomorrow!

It would be nice if there was a lab in the same building as my doctor, but he is in a private building. He's got to be in his late 60's and says he has been an ID doctor since 81 and have been working with HIV patients since around 85. Needless to say he has seen lots of things in his years. He said that he has been promoting starting treatment upon diagnosis for years, and now the CDC is starting to recommend that as well.

Next challenge to tackle is getting my meds all set up. He prescribed me Complera saying he likes that one better simply because the lack of the Sustiva component which causes the dreams I guess. I called my prescription insurance company (Express Scripts) and they told me I would have an $80 copay per month. They also said that Complera is not a formulary drug for them, so I probably won't be able to do the 90-day mail prescription which has a $40 copay. It's a trade off I guess, because with the 30-day walk in prescription I can use the copay assistance card from Complera (as long as they approve me). With any of their mail order drugs, they don't accept the card.

Express Scripts did say that Atripla was one of their approved meds, so if I switch to that my copays would be half as much, but I still wouldn't be able to do the mail order thing.

One more question: Let's say you have a prescription for 30 days of meds and you fill it on the 1st. Then you go back on the 25th to get the next refill, will they short you 5 pills? Or is it just a matter of a refill each time of 30 pills?

That math if a bit off though, because 30 pills with 12 total fills is 360 which is 5 days short of a year!

my docs are part of of the state university medical center - the main campus is about 1/4 mile away, the HIV clinic (specialty care center as they call it) has it's own location and there's a pharmacy right next door (and a great German restaurant nearby, bonus!).

Blood draws are always at the specialty care center and some if not most of the actual tests are done at the university med center... but for example the drug resistance/genotype test was sent to LabCorp in South San Francisco. I suspect they may send viral load tests off-site too but i'm not sure, those take longer to get results back though.

Yep, normal. I see an ID doctor in private practice and every visit he gives me the blood test requests for the next visit (6 monthly) and I just go to the local blood collection centre about a week before my next Dr visit.

This system is actually easier because my Dr is a 30min drive away but I can get the blood tests done anywhere (collection centres are literally everywhere). I stop in to the closest place on my way to work about a week before my appointment and the results are emailed to my Dr ready for my appointment. It would actually be more difficult if I had to go to the same building as my Dr for the blood draws.

My first ID doctor whom I had for 15 years required that I had blood drawn in his office. That was a pain in the arse as he was over an hour away in downtown Columbus. I then had to return in a couple of weeks to discuss the results.

My current doctor allows me to have my labs drawn at any facility I choose. He utilizes Webview which allows me to see my lab results from LabCorp before my appointment. I love this as I can review it and it saves times at the appointment.

The question of building reserves: On a monthly prescription, you typically are allowed to fill it a week early which means by the end of the year, you could have a 3 month reserve. When I was with another mail order pharmacy, I got them quarterly and was allowed to fill them 3 weeks early. I now have enough reserves that I don't allow them to ship them early.

You will not be short at the end of the year, they'll request another prescription from your doctor because all 12 scripts in theory could be filled within 9 or 10 months. Hope that clarifies a bit.

i would like to add to this question. does your doctor call you on the phone to give you the lab results or do you go back in the office for the result? My doctor calls me on my cell phone and asks me if im at a place where he can go over my labs.

I like it in someway because i don't have to drive back for another visit and co-pay, but sometimes I would like to see the results and go over them. Sometimes its hard to ask questions and etc when he calls over the phone, especially if i'm at work i have to go out in the hall to talk.

I could tell him i would like to come back in for the results, but i think he assumes i would prefer to get them over the phone and save a co-pay and a 30min drive..

i would like to add to this question. does your doctor call you on the phone to give you the lab results or do you go back in the office for the result? My doctor calls me on my cell phone and asks me if im at a place where he can go over my labs.

I like it in someway because i don't have to drive back for another visit and co-pay, but sometimes I would like to see the results and go over them. Sometimes its hard to ask questions and etc when he calls over the phone, especially if i'm at work i have to go out in the hall to talk.

I could tell him i would like to come back in for the results, but i think he assumes i would prefer to get them over the phone and save a co-pay and a 30min drive..

mike

Why do you have an appointment before having your blood drawn? That seems odd.

You will not be short at the end of the year, they'll request another prescription from your doctor because all 12 scripts in theory could be filled within 9 or 10 months. Hope that clarifies a bit.

Take care and best wishes.

This what I kind of figured. At first I guess I thought that since my prescription was written on October 19 2012, that I couldn't get another one until October 19 2013. I see that's not the case and what I'll end up doing is probably going back a month or so earlier as I 'run out' of the refills.

Why do you have an appointment before having your blood drawn? That seems odd.

I agree. I get my blood drawn a week before my appointment. Usually the results are posted on their website in 2 days so I get to see the results and formulate any questions prior to the appointment. When you see the doctor you are prepared.

If you use an offsite lab, check with them to see if they have a website to view your results.

If you use an offsite lab, check with them to see if they have a website to view your results.

My doctor uses Webview. I love it. My entire medical history is there and is a safe and secure site I can log into at any time. It utilizes an email program that sends me a message to my gmail account notifying me that he has sent me a secure email through that program.

LabCorp utilizes that system also and the results are uploaded there instead of the traditional route. My entire history is available for review instead of trusting my sketchy brain fogged memory.

I would like that myself Wolfie. i know my doctor is being forced to use computers and transferring all medical records to the computer. He isn't happy about it because he is used to using the medical folders. I'm all for my medical records being o a secure computer so that all doctors i see can pull that info up easily. its hard to try and explain all my issues to every doctor i visit.

My doctor/clinic just switched to some electronic lab/medical history program, but they haven't as yet allowed off premises access to the records. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this never happens. They probably feel it would effect "retention in care".

My doc stopped drawing blood in his office some time back and you have to go up one floor to the lab and then they are sent out. I thought it was rather strange since you have to go up there and then they have to call downstairs to make sure your supposed to be there. Not to mention that my doc owns the entire building and rents space to the lab and the in house pharmacy. I think its just a tax thing for him since I looked and if you pay him via mail you send the check to Maine.

Yes, my ID doc does the labs. In effect, I am like some others in that everything, lab, pharmacy and doc are all in same building/clinic. I use my ID doc as my regular doc because I figure that he has a better grip on my overall health then someone who hasn't a clue about HIV.

Logged

Diagnosed in May of 2010 with teh AIDS.

PCP Pneumonia . CD4 8 . VL 500,000

TRIUMEQ - VALTREX - FLUOXETINE - FENOFIBRATE - PRAVASTATIN - CIALIS

Numbers consistent since 12/2010 - VL has remained undetectable and CD4 is anywhere from 275-325

When I was first diagnosed I would have my blood drawn by a nurse at my 3 month checkup. I would then have to call a week later for the results. They said this was due to insuranse rules...Two years ago that changed. My doc now gives me a prescription for blood work and I have it drawn 7-10 days before my checkup. My first time I went to Quest, but I much prefer going to the hospital my Doc works out of Erie County Medical center....It is seamless and I'm in and out within 30 minutes. Now I can discuss the results with my ID Doc

LabCorps is what my doctor sent me too. I went to two of the locations listed on the back of the paperwork and they were no longer at those locations! Then I tried calling a few others and they have an automated operator that take 3-4 minutes

That math if a bit off though, because 30 pills with 12 total fills is 360 which is 5 days short of a year!

Windy -- I didn't see you or anyone post this (hope it's not a duplication) but here's the website link for hunting up locations for Labcorp. USUALLY the site is more up to date than printed forms. Labcorps and Quest locations can move like retail outlets. Check it out https://www.labcorp.com/wps/portal/findalab

Regarding your prescription fulfillment, the pharmacist will fill what's prescribed--no shorting you. They'll be glad you're coming in a little early which avoids a freak-out day before or day of especially in the off-chance they have to order your med in. Em

Windy -- I didn't see you or anyone post this (hope it's not a duplication) but here's the website link for hunting up locations for Labcorp. USUALLY the site is more up to date than printed forms. Labcorps and Quest locations can move like retail outlets. Check it out https://www.labcorp.com/wps/portal/findalab

Regarding your prescription fulfillment, the pharmacist will fill what's prescribed--no shorting you. They'll be glad you're coming in a little early which avoids a freak-out day before or day of especially in the off-chance they have to order your med in. Em

Em,

I did find a Labcorp location close to me from their website and even scheduled my appointment on it. The day I went I was very pleased with the location and the staff was very friendly. Previously when I had gone to one in a 'worse' part of the city, I didn't feel comfortable at all, and the staff was as rude as can be.

The location I went to is right next to where another ID doctor is that I'm going to see, and if he works out I'll just see him from now on and let go of the other doctor I saw. Only reason I had went to him first was because he was the only one with an immediate opening. This new doctor came via a personal recommendation, and is much closer to my house. If it all works out, my doctor, the lab, and the pharmacy will all be within the same block of each other.

Before I moved to Florida it used to be at the doctors office. They used to do it after the visit, but then they switched it to Friday mornings.

My first doctor in Florida used to do the bloodwork in the office and then stopped and started telling people to go to Quest or Labcorp. They could still do them if there was a concern and she wanted the results sooner. I didn't like going somewhere else and then making an appointment and still having to wait sometimes.

Now my new doctor does them right in the office. He has also emailed me with good news of results of tests I've taken.

Logged

Pray God you can copeI know you have a little life in you yet. I know you have a lot of strength left.

i wish my ID did my labs, presently i have 2 separate pharmacies in 2 separate hospitals here in town for mine. Labs & pharmacy 1 at Hosp 1 and ID and Pharmacy 2 at Hosp 2, and my ID isnt a primary care so imagine how much worse it would be if i had to throw a 3rd in there too